Lakers head to Denver with chance to leap past Nuggets

The Los Angeles Lakers enter Thursday sixth in the Western Conference playoff race. They're looking to end the day in an even better spot. All that is standing in the way is a trip to Denver to face the Nuggets.

Los Angeles is a half-game behind Denver in the standings and just 1 1/2 games out of the third seed with five-plus weeks left in the regular season. The Lakers have won three in a row and face a Nuggets team still missing key players.

Denver forward Aaron Gordon has not played since Jan.